1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector to be used for electrically connecting conductors to each other, in particular, to a side type connector, that is, a horizontally attaching type connector, in which a flexible substrate is inserted and pulled out parallel to a mounting surface.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2004-139916 discloses a connector in which a socket housing as a slider, which is formed into a female connector, is fitted into a base connector as a housing, which is formed into a male connector and mounted on a printed circuit board, parallel to the mounting surface of the printed circuit board. In the connector, a socket contact supported on the socket housing is brought into contact with a pin contact supported on the base connector to electrically connect the socket contact to the printed circuit board.
In the side type connector disclosed in the publication, a worker must move the socket housing parallel to the mounting surface of the printed circuit board in order to fit the socket housing into the base connector. However, this operation is performed manually and the worker is hard to apply a force to the socket housing. As a result, the socket housing may be put into a non-fitted or semi-fitted state to the base connector.
For this reason, in order to confirm the fit between the socket housing and the base connector, a connector is proposed that is provided with a lock mechanism for fitting the socket housing into the base connector with a latch sound or a latch feeling. In the connector, however, the confirmation of the fit depends on the hearing sense or the sense of touch of the worker. Therefore, when the fitting operation is performed in a factory in which noises or vibrations are generated, the worker is apt to erroneously confirm the fit though the socket housing is in a non-fitted or semi-fitted state.